Is intergenerational solidarity a unidimensional construct? A second test of a formal model.
Results from a second empirical test of a theory of intergenerational family relations, as an example of empirically driven theory construction in social gerontology, are presented. The theory we tested reflects an attempt to explain later-life patterns of affection, association, and consensus between parents and children as interdependent components of a meta-construct--family intergenerational solidarity. The theoretical model also identifies variables that are expected to predict variations in levels of solidarity. A recent empirical test (Atkinson, Kivett, and Campbell, 1986) offered little support for the central proposition of the model: that solidarity can be indexed by a linear-additive composite of affection, association, and consensus. The replication analysis reported here is based on a different sample, as well as alternate measures and statistical methods. The convergent results suggest that (a) later-life intergenerational solidarity is not a unidimensional construct, and (b) different variables predict each component. This exercise of theory statement, testing, and retesting leads us to suggest several refinements to the theory acknowledging a more complex relationship between dimensions of intergenerational relations in old age.
Roberts
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Department of Sociology, University of Southern California.
Bengtson
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology